• The project is promoted by the GAIKER Technology Centre, the Basque Environmental Industry Cluster (Aclima), the Plastics Technology Centre (AIMPLAS), the National Association of Plastic Recyclers (ANARPLA), the Foundation for Research and Development in Transport and Energy (CIDAUT) and VALORIZA Environmental Services.
• The initiative will provide solutions for industrial sectors such as the automotive, aeronautics, renewable energies and electrical and electronics sectors, among others.
• The aim is to make it viable to recover, valorise and reintroduce composite materials that currently end up in landfills into the production cycle.
This will make it easier for companies to manage and recover composite waste and to access recovered raw materials.
The GAIKER Technology Centre (project leader), the Basque Environmental Industry Cluster (Aclima), the Plastics Technology Centre (AIMPLAS), the National Association of Plastic Recyclers (ANARPLA), the Foundation for Research and Development in Transport and Energy (CIDAUT) and VALORIZA Environmental Services have set up the CÍCLiCOM Innovation Ecosystem, the Foundation for Research and Development in Transport and Energy (CIDAUT) and VALORIZA Environmental Services have launched the CÍCLiCOM Innovation Ecosystem, which brings together technology centres, companies and associations to jointly drive the effective circular economy of composite materials and, more specifically, “complex plastics”.
The project has been funded by the CDTI's Innovation Ecosystems programme, and the aim is to promote the introduction of the technological capacities developed by Cervera Technology Centres of Excellence into the economic and social environment, fostering their enhancement and contribution to the consolidation of innovative ecosystems The call is included in the actions foreseen in the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), and receives funding through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the European Union's “Next Generation EU”.
Composite materials, commonly known as ‘composites’, are those formed by combining two or more materials of a different nature, with the aim of achieving properties that are superior to those of all their separate elements, such as strength, performance at high temperatures, weight, hardness, conductivity, etc. These are materials such as PP polypropylene, PA polyamides, PC polycarbonates, UP unsaturated polyester, PU polyurethanes or SI silicones.
The special nature of these composite materials lies in the fact that the original materials retain their identity in their entirety as a whole in them. However, due to their characteristics, once their useful life is over, they often end up in landfills because there are no technically and economically viable alternatives for recovering them. The CÍCLiCOM project seeks to promote technological solutions that make it possible to recover and valorise these composite materials, and then reintroduce them into the production cycle.
This will help companies implement the technologies required to manage composite material waste, making it viable to recover, valorise and reintroduce it into the production cycle. Behavioural models of end products will also be developed in order to make it easier to re-use them in production processes and thus facilitate access to recovered raw materials.
The use of composite materials is common in most production sectors, including strategic sectors such as the aeronautics, automotive, electrical-electronic and renewable energy sectors. In fact, they are part of strategic elements such as wind blades, printed circuit boards and aircraft structures.
In Spain alone, the market for this type of material is estimated at 2 billion euros (according to data from 2022), and the market trend points to a growing demand for recycled materials. In fact, different studies estimate that there is currently a 20% deficit between supply and demand for recovered plastics in Europe as a whole, and that this trend will grow in the coming years.
Promoting the recovery, valorisation and reintroduction of recovered composite materials into the production cycle will not only have a positive impact on the environment, but will also bring significant economic benefits to companies by reducing costs with recycled products. According to different studies, work along these lines will increase resource productivity in Europe by 3% by 2030, which would translate into savings of up to 600 million euros per year.
In addition, promoting the circular economy of this type of material will generate economic activity in itself, with the consequent creation of employment.
The project will also be based on business collaboration, both within and outside Spain, and will work on preparing company-specific “technology roadmaps”, which will provide a clear, structured overview of important technological trends and development opportunities in the field of complex plastic waste valorisation.
It will also work on educating and training professionals involved in the plastic waste recovery industry, providing relevant knowledge and practical skills aimed at improving the competitiveness and internationalisation of companies, as well as fostering innovation, knowledge exchange and the development of sustainable solutions in the field of waste management.
All in all, by promoting the circular economy, CICLiCOM will drive the competitiveness and internationalisation of companies in different productive sectors, promote innovation, facilitate business collaboration and strengthen value chains. It will also promote the competitiveness of companies through services that encourage the implementation of advanced technologies and activities that foster collaboration and continuous training.
GAIKER's work
GAIKER is in charge of leading this ecosystem, in which it will provide solutions for recycling uncured prepregs, carbon composites, hybrid and multilayer materials and developing thermoplastic tapes for reinforcement. This is supported by pilot plants for recycling and reprocessing materials. The Centre will also contribute to defining new services for users, based on their experiences from a technological point of view, for activities such as benchmarking and developing technological roadmaps. In addition, it will provide technological support to companies in the ecosystem in their progress towards circularity.
GAIKER is also able to characterise materials and products, and to apply finishing and functionalisation post-treatments by applying paints and coatings that it has made available to this project.
